How an Unconventional CIO Scales a Billion-Dollar Retail Empire
Nicolas Hien
Chief Information Officer at Dollarama & Executive Vice President at Dollarcity
When Unconventional Backgrounds Build Extraordinary Careers
We often tell ourselves a rigid story about success in the tech industry: you graduate with a computer science degree, you climb the software engineering ladder, and eventually, you land in the C-suite. But true leadership rarely follows a straight line. It is forged in the willingness to step into the unknown.
Nicholas Hien, Chief Information Officer at Dollarama and Executive Vice President at Dollar City, didn’t start his journey in a server room. He studied operations management and logistics. Yet today, he steers the digital and international expansion of a multi-billion-dollar retail empire.
Early in his career, Nicholas left a stable, comfortable role at CGI—one of Canada’s premier consulting firms—to jump into a two-man startup called 4L2.
"It’s the entrepreneurial call," Nicholas reflects. "If I don't do that now that I'm super young, when am I going to do that? ... If it fails, then I'll try something else."
Fear paralyzes 99% of the population. We overthink our leaps of faith, worrying about the fall rather than what we will learn on the way down. Nicholas’s story reminds us that an unconventional background isn't a deficit—it's a superpower. It forces you to view technology not as an isolated sandbox, but through the vibrant, high-stakes lens of business and human impact.
Overnight Growth and the Ultimate Masterclass
Imagine walking into an office thinking your job is to manage a specific project, only to find out that the Vice President of IT has suddenly departed. Suddenly, you are handed the keys to the entire technology kingdom of a massively scaling organization.
That is exactly how Nicholas became a technology executive. He didn’t apply for the role; the role found him during a time of intense corporate transition.
"I ended up as an interim being the IT vice president of a multi-million dollar corporation. So I was trying to do my best during the day and trying to learn overnight... finding out, 'Okay, what do I need to learn this night to be prepared for tomorrow's meeting?'"
For over a year, Nicholas balanced high-level corporate execution by day with rigorous self-education by night. What was meant to be a temporary bridge turned into a brilliant ten-year tenure.
This is where true resilience is born. Digital transformation isn't just about deploying code; it’s about transforming yourself to meet the moment. When the safety net is ripped away, you don't need to know all the answers immediately—you just need the discipline to find them before sunrise.
Fall in Love with the Process, Not the Tool
In the tech world, it is incredibly easy to get blinded by "shiny toy syndrome." Vendors promise that a new AI platform, a massive CRM overhaul, or a sleek SaaS tool will magically solve all corporate friction. But technology applied to a broken system only accelerates the breakdown.
Because Nicholas approached technology from a foundational background in logistics and operations, his philosophy remains refreshing and grounded: Technology must always be at the absolute service of the business.
Fix the Foundation First: "You need to fix the process first, and then you can put whatever tool you want. But if you put a tool on a shaky process, you are not doing anything and you won't fix your issue."
Bridge the Gap: Technology teams frequently build isolated kingdoms, completely disconnected from how a business actually generates revenue.
The Leader's Responsibility: A great tech leader's job isn't to buy into the hype; it's to constantly pull the team back to the core question: Are we fixing the right operational problem?
Digitalization is meaningless without operational empathy. True tech leaders do not look at tools as the solution; they look at tools as the architecture that stabilizes a beautifully designed human workflow.
The Art of Staying Lean
When a company experiences hyper-growth—expanding from a 500-store regional operation to over 1,600 stores coast-to-coast in Canada, while simultaneously capturing Latin American markets and acquiring hundreds of stores in Australia—budgets swell.
With massive budgets comes a dangerous corporate temptation: throwing endless human capital and uncoordinated software projects at every problem that pops up.
Nicholas points to this as the ultimate test of a leader's mettle: Staying lean and maintaining discipline under immense pressure.
When projects stack up, managers panic and try to fill seats with warm bodies just to cope with the workload. But Nicholas argues that the long-term cost of a bad hire—one bad apple rotting the team's culture—is far worse than leaving a seat empty while searching for the perfect fit. True digital scaling requires aggressive prioritization and the courage to say, "Not for now. Let’s finish this one first."
Focus on What You Can Control
If you look at the day-to-day realities of an executive tech leader today, the landscape is terrifying. Cyber security threats loom constantly, system implementations carry multi-million dollar risks, and market dynamics shift overnight. It is an environment ripe for stress, decision paralysis, and burnout.
When asked what message he would display on a billboard facing the busiest highway on Earth, Nicholas didn't offer a tech slogan or a corporate buzzword. Instead, he shared a profound piece of life wisdom:
"Focus on what you control... Don't waste energy on looking back on something you cannot change. Get the learning and move on."
As a leader, you can control your standards, your values, your work ethic, and the integrity of the people you choose to surround yourself with. You cannot control every external threat, every line of broken code, or every market fluctuation.
Nicholas's journey proves that the ultimate digital architecture isn't built with silicon or software—it is built with a resilient mindset. Take calculated risks, fall in love with the business process, preserve your culture fiercely, and leave the things outside your circle of influence to take care of themselves.
Author: Jovilyn Abella
At ISU Corp, we specialize in custom software development and Ai integration, helping enterprises streamline operations and drive innovation. Trusted by industry leaders, we deliver scalable, high-performing solutions tailored to your business needs.
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“You need to fix the process first and then you can put whatever tool you want. But if you put a tool on a shaky process, you are not doing anything and you won’t fix your issue.”
